Wollersheim is a village in the municipality of

Nideggen Nideggen () is a town in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 15 km south of Düren. Nideggen is known for its ruined, but partly restored cas ...

in the district of

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a people ...

in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Location

Wollersheim lies on the northern edge of the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

mountains. The fertile lands of the

Zülpich Börde Zülpich ( ksh, Zöllech) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen. History The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for the ...

border the village. Around Wollersheim is a geological and botanical feature: the

muschelkalk The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; french: calcaire coquillier) is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 million ye ...

kuppen A ''Kuppe'' is the term used in German-speaking central Europe for a mountain or hill with a rounded summit that has no rock formation, such as a tor, on it. A range of such hills is called a ''Kuppengebirge''. In geology the term also refers to ...

'', which are home to numerous rare species of limestone pastures. Southwest of the village rises the

Neffelbach Neffelbach is a river of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows into the Erft near Kerpen. See also *List of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia A list of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: A * Aa, left tributary of the Möhne * Aa, ...

stream. Wollersheim is bounded by the villages of Embken, Langendorf (municipality of

Zülpich Zülpich ( ksh, Zöllech) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen. History The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for the ...

), Eppenich (municipality of Zülpich), Vlatten (municipality of

Heimbach Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhin ...

) and Berg-Thuir.

History

An immense number of archaeological finds point to an early settlement of the area. In 1931/32 in the source region of the Neffelbach, six pottery

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

s and several

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

wells were excavated. Even the name of a

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

owner has survived. On one of the shards of pottery from the 2nd century AD is the name ''Verecundus''. On the nearby Pützberg hill and in the vicinity of

Gödersheim Castle Gödersheim Castle (german: Burg Gödersheim) is a ruined, Late Gothic, water castle a few kilometres from Wollersheim, a village in the borough of Nideggen, in the county of Düren in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland- ...

, Roman

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

graves and

matronae The Matres (Latin for "mothers") and Matronae (Latin for "matrons") were female deities venerated in Northwestern Europe, of whom relics are found dating from the first to the fifth century AD. They are depicted on votive offerings and altars th ...

stones from the Roman era were found which were dedicated to the ''Matronae Veteranehae''. Wollersheim Heath was reputedly the scene of the

Battle of Zülpich The Battle of Tolbiac was fought between the Franks, who were fighting under Clovis I, and the Alamanni, whose leader is not known. The date of the battle has traditionally been given as 496, though other accounts suggest it may either have been ...

in AD 496 between the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

under

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...

and the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

, although many historians now doubt this. The settlement named by

Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Florenti ...

as ''Tulbiac'' may have been somewhere to the south because there were simply not Alemanni this far north.↑ Reinhard Schmoeckel: Deutsche Sagenhelden und historische Wirklichkeit, Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, 1995 Wollersheim was first recorded in 1231 as ''Wolrisheim''. The name is derived from Saint

Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg. Early life His fathe ...

. As early as 1184 a ladies house (''Frauenhof'') is mentioned for the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

foundation of St. Maria im Kapitol. In 1388 the French king, Charles VI and the Duke of Jülich signed the Treaty of Wollersheim (''Wollersheimer Frieden'') here. On 1 January 1972 Wollersheim was incorporated into the new borough of Nideggen.{{cite book , editor=

Statistisches Bundesamt The Federal Statistical Office (german: Statistisches Bundesamt, shortened ''Destatis'') is a federal authority of Germany. It reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Office is responsible for collecting, processing, presenting and ...

, title= Historisches Gemeindeverzeichnis für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Namens-, Grenz- u. Schlüsselnummernänderungen bei Gemeinden, Kreisen u. Reg.-Bez. vom 27.5.1970 bis 31.12.1982 , isbn= 3-17-003263-1 , year= 1983 , publisher= Kohlhammer , location= Stuttgart/Mainz , page= 306f , type= , chapter= , id= record , format= According to the decision of the ''Oberverwaltungsgericht'' dated 4 August 1972 Wollersheim remained in Nideggen, and temporarily lost the title of "town" (''Stadt'').

Church

The village has two

church building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

s, the Old Church, whose oldest parts date to the 11th century, and the New Church of 1900 to 1903. In 1958 the Old Church was to be dismantled and moved to the

open air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

at Kommern. However the villagers opposed this. The Old Church is one of the oldest sacred buildings in the county of Düren. Wollersheim belongs to the

Archdiocese of Cologne The Archdiocese of Cologne ( la, Archidioecesis Coloniensis; german: Erzbistum Köln) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. History The Electorate of Cologn ...

Economy

Around Wollersheim a lot of Eifel

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

is grown for the brewing industry. From 1791 to 1987 the Cramer Brewery brewed beer in Wollersheim itself.

References

External links

Wollersheim on the Nideggen website
Düren (district) Former municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia